“Don’t worry. Gianna can lie if she has to.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt she can lie very well if she wants to. But she’s not exactly the most trustworthy person.”
“She’s my wife,” I reminded my brother with a bit too much force.
“That’s the problem.” He walked off back to the party before I could reply, and I headed toward Gianna.
Gianna
I couldn’t believe Matteo had rammed his knife into that man’s chin. It had been a horrible sight, seeing Bardoni with dead, shock-widened eyes. He had been an asshole, and I certainly wasn’t sad to see him gone, but seeing my own husband kill him without a second thought had been horrible. Matteo had acted so quickly, no hesitation, no preparation. Every move had spoken of experience. I’d known he was good with the knife of course. Even in Chicago people had talked about his skills but it hadn’t prepared me for watching him actually use a knife on someone like that.
After I’d told Luca to find Matteo, I waited in the corridor. Aria had gone back into the living room; it would have looked suspicious if all of us had suddenly disappeared. And people were very eager to talk to Aria so her missing would definitely have drawn attention. Nobody would mind my absence however.
I’d barely waited for a minute, when Romero hurried past me toward the office. People always said I was unpredictable. I had nothing on Matteo.
I wrapped my arms around myself. My heart was still pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t stop checking my surroundings nervously.
I was still trying to come to terms with my feelings for what happened when the door to the office opened and Luca and Matteo stepped out without Romero. Luca passed me without a glance. He probably blamed me for the mess his brother had caused. I didn’t think Matteo needed much of an incentive to kill, but naturally I realized that I had been the reason for Bardoni’s death.
Matteo had acted out of jealousy and possessiveness. Seeing another man touching me had made him snap. Matteo scanned my face as he approached me. I probably looked pretty upset. The problem was I didn’t feel nearly as upset as I knew I should. I couldn’t bring myself to be sad about Bardoni’s death, no matter how much I tried.
Matteo’s movements were so lithe, so self-assured. And somehow, despite everything, I felt myself drawn to him, even to that dangerous side he’d showed me today. Matteo wrapped an arm around my waist and led me toward the front hall. Instead of returning to the living room, he steered me into a small guest bathroom near the front door.
“What the hell are you doing?” it burst out of me. “I won’t make out with you after you killed someone.”
Matteo gripped the back of my neck and pulled our bodies flush against each other before pressing his mouth to mine, kissing me hard. I panted for air when he drew back. His lips brushed my ear. “You look so fucking sexy. I could fuck you in a room with a dead body and wouldn’t care.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I muttered, but I didn’t try to pull back. His warmth and strong body steadied my trembling limbs. Maybe the events were affecting me more than I thought.
“But that’s not why we are here,” he murmured.
A loud shot carried through the house. I jumped. “What—”
“That’s why,” Matteo said calmly. “We’re going to pretend we had a quickie. We don’t want people to think we had something to do with Bardoni’s unfortunate end, right?”
He ruffled my hair, then his own before unbuttoning his top two buttons. He raised his dark brows. “Ready?”
I nodded.
“Remember we don’t know anything. We are shocked, and surprised.”
Matteo ripped open the door, and headed out, pulling his gun. The lobby was filled with other guests, most men with their weapons drawn. Confused looks were exchanged. Luca and Bardoni’s son ran toward where the gunshot had come from. Several people gave me and Matteo disgusted looks. They seemed to believe the lie Matteo wanted them to. It probably helped that they all thought I was a whore.
“Stay here,” Matteo said. “I’ll have to see what’s going on.” He looked so honestly worried and alert as if he really didn’t know why a shot had sounded. Nobody would doubt him. If I didn’t know better, even I would have believed in his innocence after that show.
He hurried toward the crime scene. I could only watch in stunned silence. Matteo was a master manipulator.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Gianna
It was way past midnight when we finally got home. Most of the other guests had left long before us, but Luca and Matteo had to stay as heads of the Famiglia and pretend they were trying to figure out what had happened. Nobody had suspected them, at least not openly. To be honest, neither Bardoni Jr. nor Mrs. Bardoni had looked too distraught. Their tears had been crocodile tears if I’d ever seen any. Maybe he’d been as unpleasant to them as he’d been to me in the short time I’d spent with him.
I couldn’t believe my life had changed from waitressing in Munich to covering up my husband’s crimes. After a quick shower, I slipped into bed. Matteo was still arguing with Luca in our living room. This was one of the few instances where I understood Luca’s anger completely.
I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling as I listened to their voices. The ankle monitor lay on my nightstand, mocking me. Maybe I should have used tonight’s confusion to escape. Luca, Matteo, and Romero had been busy cleaning up their mess, and I had been without my stupid ankle bracelet. It had been the perfect opportunity. Then why hadn’t I run? I doubted anyone would have stopped me.
Because of Aria? I wished that was the only reason, but as I’d stood in the lobby waiting for Matteo to return, I hadn’t even considered escape. Why wasn’t it at the forefront of my brain anymore? Six months ago it had been all I could think about, had been an obsession that had consumed me, and now it sometimes felt that I only thought about running because I felt that I was supposed to do it.
It was confusing. I wasn’t as miserable as I’d worried I’d be living with Matteo. Of course, he was a crazy-ass killer, but it wasn’t as if I wasn’t used to that kind, and it actually made life exciting even if I hated admitting it. Living life as a normal person, doing normal things, earning money with normal jobs, had been an incredible experience, but for some reason it had never felt like more than a distraction.
The door opened and Matteo strode into the bedroom. He wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore and half of his shirt buttons were already unbuttoned. He flashed me his usual grin before he disappeared in the bathroom.
I could have pretended to be asleep to avoid talking to him but for some inexplicable reason I wanted to talk to him. When he emerged from the bathroom in his boxer shorts, flashing his lean muscled torso, I almost cancelled my plans. But that would really have felt too wrong. A man had died, albeit a horrible man, and having sex so shortly after his death would have felt utterly wrong.
Matteo slid under the covers and reached for my waist, pulling me toward him. His eyes were hungry. There was no sign that he even still remembered what he’d done not too long ago. His lips claimed mine and I let his tongue in, let the kiss consume me until my body was humming with pleasure and I forced myself to push him away before I did something for which I’d despise myself tomorrow morning.